Portrait of a Revolutionary
by benign intent
Summary: oneshot sketch of Katsu, influences upon him. Assumes familiarity with Sekihoutai related events.


Note: I can't even meet my own deadlines. Sorry that _Meeting a Legend'_s chapter is not ready. I offer this one-shot instead, as my bid for an extension. I hope you like it anyway.

Disclaimer: I own no rights to _Rurouni Kenshin_, unless a copy of the first manga volume and a few videos count for something.

Warning: Assumes familiarity with Sekihoutai-related incidents in the series.

Portrait of a Revolutionary

He sold portraits no longer, but the skill that had gained Tsunan Tsukioka acclaim was still accessible. Katsu may have devoted himself to his press in the attempt to correct the wrongs of Meiji in less explosive ways (not that those in power would be any happier with these actions, even if they were able to compare them with his earlier direct assault on government buildings--the right words were even more undermining than bombs), but the "last" painting he left to Sano actually wasn't.

It would be impossible to refrain from expressing certain images held strongly in memory, so Katsu kept the resulting paintings as a visible affirmation of the path he had chosen to follow. Viewing them often, however, was as _un_necessary as drawing them _was_; they were internal first. Regardless, if he wasn't concerned with the likelihood of arrest, the duplicate to Sano's gift would never have been rolled up and put aside. The betrayed, murdered, and maligned Captain Sagara…was not sealed alone.

Sanosuke, who had adopted Sagara-taichou's surname as his own in legacy, tribute, and defiance, occupied pages of his own.

The man he'd become was still recognizable juxtaposed against his youthful self, Katsu's rival for the captain's favor. Sano wore a red strip of cloth around his forehead as a declaration of affiliation in each, but his habitually-worn white jacket with _Aku _blazoned across the back after the unit was…forcibly, fatally disbanded…was a more powerful statement, albeit misleading. Katsu would be very uneasy wearing such in the presence of Saitou Hajime, former Shinsengumi troop captain, who followed the motto _Aku Soku Zan, _"Slay Evil Immediately"even now as Fujita Goro, police officer. Oh, yes, he had not missed that. Sanosuke, the idiot, baited him.

Still as reckless as if he'd never grown up.

Katsu's favorite portrait showed Sano when he'd just left a satisfying scuffle-- victorious, confident, self-satisfied, and slightly foolish. Fist-wrappings, and everything else, dusty; hair more unruly than seemed plausible; bamboo reed temporarily substituted for an absent fishbone; and the same smug expression he'd had forever.

Katsuhiro lacked the words and gestures to show his gratitude for the idiot's inexplicable survival and fellow dedication to the memory of the destroyed Sekihoutai, but he had no idea which deity might deserve thanks. Certainly the benevolent kami were far from them _that_ day, or the betrayal was made by more than the Imperialists.

Sano must have no luck gambling because it was all needed to win for much higher stakes than money.

Years of hating the Imperialists and Meiji government had left their mark on them both, but Sano had begun mending before he, and still left his renewing future for the sake of their shared past. Katsu had been delighted to discover the extent of Sano's resolve despite the friends he had to lose. Then, Katsu was forced to realize that for the first time in years, _he_ had something of too much value to sacrifice in the course of his revenge. That the violent retribution he so desired would be revealed as incredibly _misguided, _he could credit Sano's unlikely friend for, also responsible for the beginning of their true healing that night…

The Hitokiri Battousai, Kenshin Himura, strongest of the Imperialists… Katsuhiro had drawn him, as well. Katsu may have said he could not forgive him for hurting Sano so badly, but…he had. That damaging fight was the act of a _friend_. Gods, the strength of the Battousai, in more than just swordsmanship. That sad smile given after being cursed as a hypocrite would never leave him.

Battousai really did have more reason to hate how the Meiji government handled itself, hard as that was to imagine. Katsu didn't know how he could bear to defend it. But defend it he did, so he might just hope that Kenshin was not a reader of the free press. Since the war won by the Ishin "patriots" had failed to change the corruption of officials, maybe the upheaval of the entire governing structure again would not be of any service to the country, after all. Perhaps reform really was the best option for the Restoration. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't _worry_ a few people who deserved to lose sleep at night…

He hadn't captured the whole weight of knowledge hidden behind Himura's shadowed eyes, but he found himself believing a different set of _Bakumatsu_ stories, and he had been in that nightmare, too!

Maybe some day he could unroll each of them for good, but for now, they would remain out of sight, symbols of a life reclaimed and a new purpose that had not changed.

The Revolution had never ended.

--

Mini Glossary

(derived from my personal compilation acquired from numerous fanfics, so don't know where to credit them to)

**Aku**- evil, bad

**Aku, Soku, Zan**- motto of the Shinsengumi, "slay evil immediately"  
**Bakumatsu/Revolution** - the late Tokugawa Shogunate Era, just before the Meiji Restoration; also another name for the civil war, which went from 1862-1868, that pitted the anti-emperor Shogunate forces against the pro-emperor Ishin Shishi forces (also known as the Revolution Imperialists - another name for the pro-emperor Ishin Shishi forces

**Battousai**- nickname of Kenshin Himura, master of lethal sword-drawing technique

**hitokiri-** manslayer, assassin

**Ishin Shishi** - the name given to the pro-emperor forces from during the Bakumatsu; also known as Imperialists, Patriots, Revolutionaries, and Rebels

**Kami**-spirits, gods

**Meiji Restoration-**1853-1868; culminated in the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate and restoration of the Emperor Meiji, whose chosen name was written with the characters for "culture and enlightenment"

**Sekihoutai**- Imperialist army formed of farmers/peasant class, executed as traitors for convenience by their own side, nominally for causing confusion with false promises

**Shinsengumi **- a special police force formed in 1862 by the Shogunate to protect Kyoto; disappeared with the defeat of the Tokugawa regime in 1868.

**-Taichou**- "first captain"


End file.
